How to Choose the Right Affiliate Management Agency

August 25, 2024

When you hire an agency to manage your partnership program, you’re empowering them to represent your brand, voice and communication efforts with potentially hundreds of partners. As such, it is paramount that you have trust and confidence in your partnership marketing agency.

To help you in your agency evaluation process, we created this guide to highlight 10 important questions you should ask agencies, along with what you should be looking for in their responses.

To get a deeper dive into questions to ask when choosing an affiliate program management agency, download our free guide.

How to Choose an Affiliate Program: Essential Questions to Ask an Affiliate Management Agency

If you feel overwhelmed with your search, wondering, “Why affiliate marketing?” or simply want to streamline the process and find the right partner so you can start affiliate marketing, consider the following questions.

1. What Kind of Experience Does the Affiliate Program Management Team Have?

High-performing affiliate programs are managed by experienced professionals who have a proven track record of successful affiliate program management and strong relationships with diverse affiliate partners.

At Acceleration Partners, our team has decades of combined experience successfully managing global affiliate marketing programs. Ultimately, our goal is to connect each brand’s core identity with its target audience, resulting in record-breaking growth across diverse industries.

2. How Many Full-Time Employees Are Dedicated to Affiliate Programs?

An affiliate agency should have several dedicated team members overseeing your affiliate program. When you sign on with Acceleration Partners, you can count on a committed Client Services team who will provide high-touch affiliate management services from day one.

3. Does the Agency Have an Established Roster of Diverse Affiliate Partners?

This is one of the most important questions to consider when searching for a new affiliate management agency. Without an established roster of affiliate partners spanning a range of industries, your program’s launch and performance over time may be impacted.

With that in mind, ask about the number of affiliate partners on your agency’s roster and learn which industries and regions are represented.

4. What is Their Approach to Affiliate Recruitment, Activation and Optimization?

A successful affiliate program includes quality partners that are aligned with your goals and KPIs. This requires an agency team that understands your business and knows how to attract the right partners to your program.

5. Does the Agency Customize Program Plans to Suit Your Needs?

Affiliate marketing is never a one-size-fits-all plan. Of course, certain best practices apply regardless of your brand’s size or industry. But for best results, it’s crucial to customize your program to suit your needs.

Our team dedicates itself to learning about your company, relevant stakeholders, your products and services — and, perhaps most importantly, your audience. Then, we leverage these insights to build a comprehensive plan that will help your campaign achieve long-term success.

6. Does the Agency Have a True Global Footprint?

If you’re looking to expand your program globally, it’s critical to have the support of experienced, full-time employee account teams located in your region or market. These global partners bring deep expertise and fluency in regional language, culture and business requirements. They also provide additional support when your brand breaks into a potentially lucrative region for the first time.

We’re proud to be a truly global organization at Acceleration Partners, with teams operating in over 40 countries, spanning three continents and speaking a collective 20 languages fluently.

7. Does the Agency Include a Customer Success Team?

An affiliate agency should provide centralized guidance, strategy and expertise to help onboard and grow your program at all times. In many cases, however, new clients are left to their own devices.

Not with our team. We stay close with you each step of the way, from the first day of onboarding to program launch day and beyond.

8. Does the Agency Have In-House Technology to Dedicate to Your Program?

In-house technology isn’t necessarily make-or-break, but leveraging proprietary platforms and insights can give you a strong advantage over your competitors. For instance, at Acceleration Partners, our team uses our proprietary technology, APVision, to aggregate data from worldwide partner networks, monitor trends and stay one step ahead of opportunities to grow your brand.

9. What is Their Strategy for Reaching Goals and KPIs?

It’s essential to know exactly how the agency plans to help you reach the goals and KPIs you’ve established for your affiliate program. Beyond knowledge, however, it’s crucial that the agency provides regular updates and readouts so you know exactly where your program stands.

10. Do They Have Client Testimonials and Reviews Related to Affiliate Program Management?

Look for agencies that have actually won awards for their affiliate program management and proven success via client testimonials and review sites.

Key Benefits of Working with an Affiliate Marketing Agency

Some benefits of working with the best affiliate marketing agencies include:

Cost-effective growth campaigns
Access to an established roster of affiliates and varied traffic sources
Enhanced trust with your ideal user
Flexible, scalable growth with a minimal monetary investment
Expanded reach into previously untapped markets

Choosing the Right Affiliate Management Agency FAQs

Still learning about affiliate marketing? Read on for some answers to frequently asked questions.

What is an affiliate program?

An affiliate program is a type of marketing campaign that matches your brand with affiliate partners, such as influencers, bloggers or third-party review sites. These affiliates then promote your products or services in exchange for a commission.

What is an affiliate network, and how does it work?

An affiliate network connects your brand with an established group of affiliates, ranging from influencers to publishers, deal affiliates and more. It’s essentially a go-between that eliminates the need for manual relationship-building on your behalf and allows you to launch a campaign quickly with vetted affiliate partners.

How do affiliate networks make money?

Generally speaking, affiliate networks make money from commissions. Depending on the terms of your program, commissions are typically earned when a consumer completes a desired action, like making a purchase or downloading a guide.

What are the best affiliate networks?

The best affiliate networks can vary depending on your needs. In general, however, it’s a reputable network with a diverse roster of partners and a transparent, ethical approach to financial management, reporting, publishing and affiliate recruiting.

Contact Us for Expert Affiliate Management Services

Affiliate marketing has come a long way in the last decade, with the industry poised to boom even more by 2027. Ready to launch your own branded affiliate marketing program?

Contact our team today to get started.